Monday, February 3, 2014

The Epson 5020UBe Offers Quality Beyond It's Price Range

Without a doubt, Epson is one of the best projector manufacturers today. They offer a ton of products for entry level home theater systems. The Home Cinema 5020UBe is one of the higher end models that they offer right now. It is a THX certified 3LCD projector with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and a 2400 lumens rated light output. It has an integrated 3D transmitter and comes with two pairs of rechargeable RF 3D glasses. The "UB" in the name stands for UltraBack. This signifies better black-level performance and better contrast than most lower end models. The "e" means that the projector has a build in WirelessHD receiver. That allows you to send HDMI signals wirelessly.

The 5020UBe is 18.4 x 15.6 x 5.5 inches and weighs 18 pounds. The square cabinet has rounded edges and a nice black/white brushed finish. The center mounted lens uses a 230 watt E-TORL lamp, which has a life of up to 5,000 hours. There are focus dial on the top and a 2.1x zoom, and there are also controls for vertical and horizontal lens shifting, just like Epson's higher end models.

On the back panel, you have two HDMI inputs, a component video, a composite video, and a PC RGB input. There is also a trigger output and a RS-232 port. The WirelessHD transmitter has five HDMI inputs and an HDMI output. There is also an optical digital audio output in case your pre amp doesn't have an HDMI input.

The 5020UBe comes with pretty much any picture adjustment you would need. It has five 2D picture modes and three 3D picture modes. You also have options for color temperature, RGB offset and gain controls, skintone controls, a color management system, five gamma presets, and advanced sharpness controls. The projector has a refresh rate of 240Hz in 2D mode and 480Hz in 3D mode. There are different frame-interpolation modes to reduce blur.

One of the best things about this projector is how bright it is. It is bright enough that you could actually watch it in a room with your lights on and still be able to watch HD content. The brightness also makes for a really good 3D experience.

Overall, this is a wonderful projector, especially for the price. You get all of the same functions as Epson's higher end models, and the brightness of a more high end model as well.